royalties
Last updated : 23/02/2023
This Royalties Policy explains how Lissen Ltd ("we", "us", or "our") pays royalties to artists, songwriters, and record labels for the use of their music on our music streaming platform (the "Service"), using a user-centric model.
What is a user-centric model?
A user-centric model is a way of calculating and distributing royalties that is based on the actual usage of the music by the Service's users. Under this model, the royalties paid to rights-holders (artists, songwriters, publishers, record labels) are based on the amount of time that users spend listening to their music on the Service, rather than the total revenue generated by the Service.
What are the differences with the pro-rata model?
In a pro-rata model, an artist's share of the total revenue is based on the proportion of streams their music received across the entire platform, while in a user-centric model, an artist's share of the royalties is based on the proportion of stream time their music received from each individual user's listening activity on the platform. The stream unit (1 stream = more than 30 seconds of streaming time) is not used with Lissen user-centric approach.
User-centric royalties calculator*
We calculate royalties with the amount of time our users spend streaming music. Regulations, pricing and fees might differ worldwide but to have an idea of what it means, the calculator below illustrates how much money your music would generate with Premium fans spending $10 a month. Fan engagement represents how often your fans stream your music so for example if 1 fan streamed your song 50% of their time during the last month, then you will get 50% of their subscription money aka ~5$ (minus fees)
How do we calculate royalties?
We calculate royalties based the amount of time a user spends listening to a particular artist's or songwriter's music. This means that the royalties distributed are based on the proportion of streams an artist's music received from an individual user's listening activity on the platform.
Lissen's current base fee can be reduced through temporary incentives that will be communicated via our channels and display on our website. This base fee may be adapted according to market conditions.
As of 01/03/2023, Lissen fee is 5% so rights-holders will get 95% of all revenue generated by the platform users.
We determine the amount of revenue earned by a certain song during a given period (e.g., a month), and then split that revenue between its rights-holders. The portion each rights-holder will receive is based on the actual ownership of the song. As a point of reference for split between royalty types: composition rights represent 15% and sound recording rights represent 85%.
Lissen user-centric approach
This means that if a user spends 10% of their total listening time on a specific song, that song would receive 10% of the royalties earned from that user during that period (Ads for Freemium users, Subscription fee for Premium users). The royalties collected will be then split between the song's rights-holders.
In addition, we may also take into account any applicable local laws and industry standards when calculating and paying royalties.
How do we report royalties?
We report royalties to artists, songwriters, publishers and record labels on a regular basis. We provide detailed information about the usage of their music on the Service, including the number of streams, downloads, and purchases. We also provide information about the revenue generated by the Service, and the percentage of that revenue that is being paid to them.
In addition, we provide detailed information about the amount of time that users spend listening to each song or album, and the percentage of royalties earned by each artist, songwriter, publisher or record label.
How do we pay royalties?
Once the rights-holders distribution on Lissen is finalised, any rights-holder will have the ability to withdraw their revenue according to local regulation. In the UK for example, if a rights-holder is registered with PRS, Lissen will have to send this revenue to PRS which will then send it to the rights-holder.
We pay royalties to collecting societies (PROs, CMOs...) on a regular basis, typically on a monthly or quarterly basis. We pay royalties electronically, via direct deposit or wire transfer, unless other arrangements have been made. We may deduct any applicable taxes or fees required by law from the royalties paid.
When we can pay royalties directly to rights-holders, it will be done monthly. Rights-holders can opt-in for electronic withdrawal (manual wire transfer for fiat, direct transfer for stablecoin) or electronic payment (direct deposit or wire transfer for fiat, direct payment for stablecoin), unless other arrangements have been made. We may deduct any applicable taxes or fees required by law from the royalties paid.
Changes to this Royalties Policy
We may update this Royalties Policy from time to time. We encourage you to review this Royalties Policy periodically to stay informed about how we calculate, report, and pay royalties.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Royalties Policy, please contact us on our socials or at contact@lissen.live